Book covers from the "Unheralded Artists of B.C." series.

“ In any creative world there is energy around stars and the art world is very small,” says writer and publisher Mona Fertig. “I know from being an artist’s daughter how much my dad suffered, how he carried on, how poor we were, how many times I heard the names of (celebrated Vancouver painter) Jack Shadbolt and others and knew, instinctively that all things were not equal.”

Her father George Fertig was a committed artist and husband with two daughters, struggling in Vancouver during the post-war years. But despite the beauty and depth of his work, Fertig painted in the shadows. Years later, Mona Fertig decided she didn’t want her father’s work to be overlooked. In time, she was able to bring his life story — and that of other marginalized artists — to light in a biographical series called Unheralded Artists of B.C.

“ There were about 5,000 artists on the B.C. coast in the ‘40s, ‘50s and beginning of the ‘60s,” Fertig says. “It was a very rich scene.” She says her father’s story led to the idea of the book series. Some time after he died, Fertig got a grant and began writing about his life, but couldn’t find a publisher.

She wasn’t discouraged, deciding instead to publish the book herself. Working with her husband Peter Haase, from their home on Salt Spring Island, the couple expanded their private literary press to include trade books. They named their enterprise Mother Tongue Publishing and began the Unheralded Artists of B.C. series.

She sees herself as a curator. “The books are small galleries — a door we’ve opened up to the world,” she says.

“ People love the stories,” Fertig says. “The books speak to outsiders, who want to hear more about these artists who worked without recognition. It fills a part of our selves that relates to the creative struggle. There’s a masochism to being an artist — all that rejection. But without being creative, artists would collapse. ”

The first book in the series was about sculptor David Marshall, one of several artists Fertig knew growing up in the Vancouver art scene. Her father’s story, which she wrote, was the second and the third is about painters Frank Molnar and LeRoy Jensen, and sculptor and printmaker Jack Hardman. “There were quite a few men,” Fertig says. “It’s harder to find women.”

The press has just released a biography of landscape painter Mildred Valley Thornton, and the next book will be about Ina Uhthoff and Edythe Hembroff Schleicher, two artists from Victoria. With each new book, Fertig says sales have been steadily increasing. She now plans to hire a sales specialist.

Fertig would love to commission a book on Vancouver artist Vera Weatherbie but says finding a suitable writer and ensuring there’s enough research material are just some of the challenges she faces. Publishing is also costly, particularly reproducing full color art work and getting permissions. B.C. artists, like their counterparts from across Canada, easily slipped into obscurity despite the many creative people and galleries in Vancouver, Fertig says very few artists in the past made a living. “Artists are forgotten or not considered important,” she says. “The art itself gets destroyed. If there are no relatives, the art can vanish.”

The Vancouver Art Gallery has many B.C. artists’ works in storage, but the public rarely gets a chance to see them. Fertig has bigger ideas, including a regular series of VAG shows on B.C. artists. “I’d like to see a college- or university-level course, so people can learn more about our history,” she adds. She also believes the books in the series would make great film documentaries, because of their visual appeal.

Fertig believes the art world is even narrower today than it was when her father was part of a vibrant local community, and artists emphasize the intellectual and conceptual now over the visual. “We can be inspired by the struggle and passion of these artists,” Fertig says. At a deeper level, she believes the artists’ struggles as depicted in the series can give hope to other creative people. “These artists followed a path of courage.”

Cheryl Sieger, a librarian at the Vancouver Art Gallery for 27 years, believes people have a strong curiosity about artists from Vancouver’s past. “I get queries every day from the public about (local) art they own,” Sieger says. “And they want to know more about these artists.” She says the series is also valuable to art collectors and Vancouver historians. “People are delighted to have documentation about these artists. All libraries should have these books.”

There are “unsung” artists — as well as the really “unsung” artists, Sieger says, who are much harder to research. “There have been many important artists in Vancouver. It’s lovely to have the stories of some of these people brought together.”